The invention relates to a food processing appliance comprising a container removably mounted on a separate base, the container being associated with a food processing tool support assembly removably secured in an opening provided in the bottom of the container, the separate base housing an electric motor for driving the tool support assembly.
The appliance is typically a blender, grinder or other food processor having a container for example in the form of a jug for preparing foods.
The food processing tool of appliances such as blenders rotates at high speeds, up to 20 000 rpm. In this kind of appliance the food processing tool is secured to a rotary axle mounted on the container""s or jug""s bottom and the container or jug is secured removably on the motor base.
In a known food processing appliance, which is described in WO 00/13563, and which corresponds to the pre-characterizing part of claim 1, the tool support assembly comprises a generally conical support which is open inside and flares out from a narrow end part to an enlarged end part which is removably securable in the container""s opening. A rotary axle is mounted axially through the generally-conical support, this axle having a first extremity in the enlarged end part of the generally conical support, which first extremity bears an engaging element able to be driven by the electric motor when the container is mounted on the base, and a second extremity at the narrow end part of the generally conical support, the axle""s second extremity bearing a food processing tool. The motor is arranged so that it is coaxial with the tool support assembly when mounted, the motor being housed in a compartment in the base spaced up from the bottom of the base, there being a cavity between the motor compartment and the surrounding lateral walls of the base.
Further examples of food processing appliances of similar design, all having generally conical tool supports, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,176; FR 1 329 312; FR 1 332 971; FR 1 145 914; DE 1 037 088 and FR 2 492 246.
In these appliances, the removability of the conical tool holders is primarily intended to facilitate washing, due to the fact that the container can be better and easier washed, by hand or in a washing machine, without the tool support assembly. It is also easier to wash the tool support assembly when it is separated from the container.
It has already been proposed to provide various food processing appliances with a plurality of interchangeable tools which are stored when not in use. For instance, EP-A-0 669 095 describes a food processor having side-by-side arranged compartments, the processor having in the lower part of its bottom a flat drawer for storing cutting blades or discs when these are not in use. A tool storage arrangement like this has been commercialised by Senur-Europe under the Trademark Arnica.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,827 describes a storage container with a transparent lid specially-designed for storing rotary food processing tools and accessories. This container is in the form of a separate casket for receiving two tool blades and their components when dismantled. It is designed to be kept separately from the food processor and is not designed for generally conical tool supports.
It can readily be appreciated that for appliances having a generally conical tool holder, in particular those supporting a tool that projects laterally from the support, there would be a problem in storing a spare tool holder of this type when it is not in use. Usually, the appliance is a blender whose base is no wider thanxe2x80x94or only marginally wider thanxe2x80x94the upper container. The conical shape of the tool holder and the protruding tool mean that the support cannot be stored in appliances of known design. As the base houses the tool-driving motor, this leaves insufficient space for storage of a conical tool support. Also, care must be taken to leave place for vents and channels for a air flow to cool the electrical motor.
The prior art discussed above offers no solution to this problem. The use of an external storage container like in U.S. Pat. 4,733,827, but specially adapted to the conical tool support would be a possibility, as would dismantling the tool from the conical support, to facilitate storage, but both of these expedients involve inconveniences. Flat drawers like in EP-A-0669095 can only accommodate discs or other flat tools, not conical tool supports. JP 09 023985 discloses a blender having a tool storage compartment provided on the side of the motor compartment.
The aforementioned problem is solved according to the invention by providing in the bottom of the base a storage compartment specially designed to store a tool support assembly of the defined type when the assembly is not in use.
According to the invention, this storage compartment is configured to receive a tool support assembly with its enlarged end part facing down and with its narrow end part facing up, the axis of the stored tool support assembly being laterally offset from the axis of the motor. An innermost-disposed portion of the enlarged end part of a stored tool support assembly is located under the motor compartment which has a recess located in its underneath part. This recess forms part of the storage compartment and is arranged so that when a tool support assembly is stored in the storage compartment, the generally conical support and its tool are accommodated partly in the recess under the motor compartment and partly under the peripheral cavity or in the lower part thereof. A movable closure member, such as a drawer or a door, is provided for allowing access to or closing the storage compartment. This closure member is movable between an open position allowing the insertion into and the removal from the storage compartment of a tool support assembly, and a closed position in which at least a part of the closure member is flush with adjacent portions of the walls of the base.
In one embodiment, the movable closure member is part of a drawer slidably received in the bottom of the base. A drawer specially-designed for this purpose comprises a drawer bottom, side walls, a rounded front wall and an inclined rear wall. The side walls extend up from the drawer bottom and have parallel spaced apart top edge parts, for slidably engaging in the base. The drawer""s rounded front wall extends up from a curved front of the drawer bottom to above these top edge parts of the side walls. The inclined rear wall extends up from the rear of the base, the inclined rear wall having a central portion below the top edge parts of the side walls. The rounded front wall is flush with adjacent portions of the walls of the base when the drawer is pushed in the base in the closed position. The bottom of the drawer is dimensioned to hold a tool-support thereon with its enlarged end part placed down, the front side and back walls of the drawer forming a recess for receiving a tool holder to be stored, allowing a tool support to be inserted and removed when the drawer is pulled out of the base to the open position.
The rounded front wall of the drawer can be provided in its upper part with a central aperture, and the bottom of the base has a projection or a button of a lock which fits in this aperture when the drawer is in the closed pushed-in position. The drawer""s front wall further comprises under this aperture a gripping recess, arranged so a user can grip it while pushing against said projection to pull the drawer out.
The bottom of the motor compartment may comprise a cage protruding down under the motor shaft so as to protect the bottom end of the shaft. Preferably this cage is off-centered from the axis, generally behind it in the direction of pushing in the drawer, and is arranged so that when the drawer is moved to and from its closed position, the lower central part of the drawer""s rear wall slides under the cage. The cage can presents vent openings for the passage of air cooling.
When the tool support carries on its narrow end part a food processing tool comprising at least one arm that projects laterally and upwardly from this narrow end part, the base can have apertures which are specially arranged for receiving these projections. For example, a portion of the base that receives the upper part of the drawer has a central downward projection flanked by upwardly-extending apertures, arranged so that when the drawer is pushed in or out the narrow end part of a stored tool support passes under this downward projection whereas the tool""s laterally and upwardly projecting arm(s) pass through the upwardly-extending apertures.
The food processing appliance according to the invention usually includes two tool support assemblies having essentially identical conical supports, but carrying different tools. For example, the tools of the two assemblies each have a plurality of laterally-projecting angulated tool arms, the arms of one tool having smooth edges, the arms of the other tool including at least one serrated edge. One type of tool support assembly has two pairs of laterally-projecting angulated tool arms in cruciform arrangement, a first pair of opposing arms projecting upwardly from the narrow end part, and a second pair of opposing arms projecting downwardly from the narrow end part.
Preferably, the tool support assembly is removably attached to the container by locking means actuable to install or remove a tool support assembly only when the container is removed from the base.
In summary, the invention provides a food processor of the defined type wherein the space in the lower base, which is necessarily confined because it houses the motor, has been astutely redesigned to allow storage of the relatively voluminous conical tool support and tool, and its easy insertion and removal, without any need to dismantle the tool from its conical support, and without any or with only minor overdimensioning of the base which can retain its traditional outer shape. The food processor can thus be sold with two interchangeable conical tool supports and tools, one of which can conveniently be stored in the base when not in use, without a need for a separate storage container.